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The Unofficial Blogger of the Chicago Cubs in Canada

Cubs Get Humiliated By Phillies

We don’t live in a perfect world we know that. In a perfect world, the Cubs would be beating their chests while other teams try to take away what is theirs. So far this season, the Cubs have put that trophy on a table and tell all teams who pass through Wrigley Field,” We had our turn, now’s your time. It’s your time.”

In last night’s stinging 10-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cubs looked more like the team Theo Epstein inherited and less like the one who steamrolled back against the Cleveland team in the World Series.

“I’m not trying to rationalize anything — we had a horrible night — but I think the takeaways are stretching out pitcher Mike Montgomery and Kyle Schwarber getting behind the plate a little bit,” Maddon said.

If this is the sound of a manager that’s worried about his team, I’m expecting big changes coming up. Schwarber behind the plate? Let’s face it, the experiment of Schwarber hitting leadoff isn’t working out as well as everyone hoped it would. Whether the addition of Schwarber behind the plate in the late innings of the game signalled a change was on the horizon, it’s anyone’s guess.

“You look around baseball, right now the best teams in baseball have seven or eight losses,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “What we did last year [starting 25-6] is the anomaly. Realistically, you expect your team to grow and get sharper as the season goes along, and I think that’s going to happen with us.”

Brett Anderson had a night he’d like to forget. He gave up seven in just over an innings worth of work. perhaps the Friendly Confines hare getting too friendly?

“There were no positives to gain from this outing,” Anderson said. “I have five starts, and I’m averaging three or four innings a start, which is embarrassing from my perspective. Hopefully going forward I can pitch better and give us a chance.”

Last year’s April start wasn’t an anomaly at all. The Cubs, for whatever reason known to them, bonded together and came out and crushed all competition. Whether it was the Dexter Fowler factor or some other magical ingredient, it’s true, the Cubs need to mix it up a bit.

“I could not be happier with the group right now, with the way guys are going about their business,” he said. “It’s just going keep getting better.”